Starting with "in bed," naturally, continuing on to "stripping bed" in preparation for washing the bedclothes. I also boxed a pile of James' magazines that have been blocking the chifforobe since we put the Christmas tree up and brought them downstairs. Once downstairs, I started the washer and then shelved all the books I read last month and in May, and then finally went through the bookshelves to pluck out a few more volumes to trade in at McKay's. I have two copy paper boxes full, but not packed, and there's a partial box of books that belong to James.

Since it looked as if James was busy today and wouldn't be getting out early, about 12:30 I quit the housework, dressed, and popped into the car. Picked up some cash at the bank, and then, because I'd been reading my Christmas Movies and Music mailing list and hearing more good Goodwill stories, stopped at the one on Concord and South Cobb. Sadly, the usual junk; not even one good book. I would be embarrassed to take some of this stuff to Goodwill! If it's that worn out I throw it out or recycle it. I did get something good at the Dollar General across the parking lot: scrub pants in black. Scrub pants make great "hanging around" clothes when it's too cold for shorts and too warm for sweats, and if you have a quick errand, they are outstanding "throw on fast" pants. Usually you see them in turquoise or gas-flame blue or (uuuuuugh!) pink. (They're really light, so if the temps climb into the 90s, they work well there, too.)

Made my way to Heritage Pointe, where I stopped at Dollar Tree to pick up more Pears' transparent soap for a dollar a bar. I love the bracing rosemary and thyme scent—especially at six in the morning when I'm barely conscious. :-) Next I went to Michael's with a fifteen percent off entire purchase coupon (including sale and clearance items) and picked up some useful things. Finally I came home by Aldi for milk and some baking soda for the refrigerator.

Arrived home just in time for Lassie on Angel2. Angel2's broadcasts of Lassie have been so weird I had almost given up hope on them. They would show four or five Jeff episodes (and a few Timmy episodes) and then repeat, and repeat the same ones for weeks and then show a few more and repeat those...it was maddening. But some months back they started from the pilot episode, "Inheritance," and proceeded to show every Jeff episode, and then went into the introductory Timmy episodes and showed all thirteen of them! Finally got to see "The Wolf Cub" again after many years.
Rewatching the "transitional episodes (Jeff with Timmy), I always love how well Ellen Miller got along with little Timmy. She was the perfect "aunt," and had she wanted to continue with the series the relationship would have been perfect. I wonder if it was hard for Jan Clayton to do such loving scenes with a small child after the death of her daughter in a car accident, which is what pushed her to quit the series. Certainly Cloris Leachman's portrayal of Ruth Martin in the next twenty-six episodes was no match for Clayton's charm, and the less said about Jon Shepodd playing Paul Martin the better, although in his book Timmy's in the Well, Jon Provost said that in person Shepodd was a nice, warm, humorous guy, and that he still kept in touch with him. Pity the writers couldn't have written Shepodd that way; I can't count the times I want to knock him upside the head for the way he treats Timmy! (I didn't want him to spoil the kid, but his Paul was such a cold fish!) As for Leachman, she hated the farmwife role and no matter how loving she tried to be, it always showed.

We had supper at the cheapest place we could think of: IHOP, where they buy-one, get-one senior menu items from 3 - 6 p.m. James forgot his Barnes & Noble coupon (the new "Destroyermen" book is out), so we just came home. That's fine, because I can just go back to reading Paris to the Past, about historical day trips by train out of Paris. (Oh, yeah, and re-making the bed...this new mattress is just so easy to make! No breaking our backs any more hefting that giant padded board and having to clamp the sheets down so they didn't slip off the bed.)